Teaching Congolese Women Self-Sufficiency Helps Nun Gain U.N. Recognition

Teaching Congolese Women Self-Sufficiency Helps Nun Gain U.N. Recognition

c. 2013 Religion News Service

(RNS) Angélique Namaika, a Roman Catholic nun, rides a bicycle on the rutted roads of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeastern province of Orientale, which is plagued by rebel violence.

On these same roads, the Lord’s Resistance Army, a Christian rebel group led by Joseph Kony, a self-proclaimed prophet of God, has been killing, abducting and mutilating women and children.

But none of that has deterred Sister Namaika from helping displaced women learn trades, start small businesses and go to school.

For her fearlessness and dedication, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees last week awarded her the 2013 Nansen Refugee Award.

The award, established in 1954, recognizes extraordinary humanitarian work on behalf of refugees, internally displaced or stateless people. It comes with a commemorative medal and $100,000, which she will receive Sept. 30 in Geneva. She meets with Pope Francis in Rome two days later.

Through her organization, the Centre for Reintegration and Development, Namaika has changed the lives of more than 2,000 women and girls forced from their homes and abused by the LRA. Many of those she helps recount stories of abduction, forced labor, beatings, murder, rape and other human rights abuses.

Namaika teaches them cooking, baking and sewing. The women grow vegetables on a communally owned field.

“When they work together on the fields, they are able to stay together,” she said.

She also instructs women and children in the less tangible but as important skills of negotiation and marketing.

“I teach them how to communicate in the local language so that they can be able to sell their products in the markets,” she said. “If their cooking is good, they can find jobs in local restaurants. If they can bake every day they can have a consistent income.”

Namaika was herself displaced by the violence in 2009. She had been living in Dungu in the province of Orientale but was forced to flee to the camps by the LRA’s persistent attacks.

The LRA got its start in northern Uganda, but it has been pushed out and now straddles a remote and densely forested border region of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Some of its captives escaped to find refuge in the villages or in towns like Dungu. Many of the traumatized survivors, who need support and skills to start a new life, have turned to the 46-year-old nun who came to the region in 2003 from the capital, Kinshasa.

The announcement of the 2013 Nansen prize coincided with the release of a report about life for those displaced by LRA violence.

According to the report, since 2008, more than 320,000 people have been forced to flee the province of Orientale — in some cases several times. The report says LRA violence has created severe and long-lasting trauma for both the abductees and those who fled, many who are still too afraid to return home.

Namaika said she is looking forward to meeting Pope Francis.

“I will ask him to help bring peace in my country,” she said. “I want him to talk to leaders here so that they commit to peace. I am going to ask him to pray for Kony, so that he confesses his sins, gives up the violence and goes back to his community.”

With the prize money, Namaika hopes to develop a semi-industrial bakery for the women, which will supply its goods in Dungu and the surrounding areas. She also hopes to acquire more land so each woman can farm her own plot.

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In Kenya Attack, Weakened al-Shabab Seeks a Foothold in Kenya

In Kenya Attack, Weakened al-Shabab Seeks a Foothold in Kenya

WASHINGTON (RNS) The deadly mall attack in Kenya on Saturday (Sept. 21) is a sign that the al-Qaida-affiliated group that carried it out has been dealt a blow in Somalia and they are looking to generate headlines with more high-profile attacks in the region, a regional expert says.

The militant group that carried out the attack, al-Shabab, wants to establish an Islamist government in Somalia.

In recent years, however, African Union troops in Somalia have driven the militants out of most parts of the capital city of Mogadishu as a U.S.-supported government there has attempted to establish control over the country. At one time, al-Shabab controlled parts of Mogadishu.

The attack in Nairobi underscores al-Shabab’s organizational skills and their commitment to die for a cause, said David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia and a professor at George Washington University.

But it also highlights that the group has to rely on high-profile terrorist attacks that generate headlines because they lack popular support and have failed in any direct fights with African Union forces in Somalia.

“Increasingly, al-Shabab has alienated the average Somali,” Shinn said.

The Kenya attack came shortly before a deadly attack against a church in Pakistan, but analysts warn against concluding that radical Islam is gaining strength. A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for it.

“These bombings are so common now,” Shinn said. “I would attribute it to happenstance and coincidence.”

Both attacks were conducted by groups with regional grievances, though some within the groups have more global aspirations.

Al-Shabab, for example, is primarily Somalis, though there is a smattering of foreigners in the leadership ranks, Shinn said. They are divided among those who envision a more global jihad and those whose goals are limited to ruling Somalia.

The Kenya attack may be a sign that al-Shabab will attempt more high-profile bombings, but their capability to do so is in question.

The last high-profile attack the group was associated with was in Uganda in July 2010, suggesting it takes the group time to get the training, financing and other support necessary to conduct a major attack. In between they have claimed responsibility for smaller attacks.

The 2010 attack killed at least 74 people and was aimed at two locations where people gathered to watch a televised World Cup match.

The latest attack comes as the United States has shown support for the government of Somalia in their fight against the militant group.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahamud was in Washington recently and met with top U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and National Security Adviser Susan Rice.

(Jim Michaels writes for USA Today)

Copyright 2013 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.